Chief Justice visits Lewis & Clark for law school competition

Chief Justice of the United States, John G. Roberts, Jr. Photo credit: Thomas Boyd, The Oregonian.

On April 4, Lewis & Clark provided three law students with an extraordinary opportunity—the chance to argue a case in front of the 17th Chief Justice of the United States.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., was invited to campus by Robert Klonoff, dean of Lewis & Clark Law School, and was part of a team of three judges asked to weigh in on the school’s inaugural Environmental Moot Court Advocate of the Year competition.

The competition’s participants—third-year law students Maggie Hall, Meredith Price, and Andy Erickson—served on a moot court team together in February, placing second among 75 schools at nationals in New York. At the April 4 event, they competed against each other in front of an audience of 500.

The Oregonian attended the moot court, providing a recap of the fictional Clean Water Act case, the challenges faced, and the dialogue between the judges and the future lawyers.

According to the article, Chief Justice Roberts praised the students’ poise, eye contact, and politeness. “Even under some fairly aggressive questioning, you were not displaying any annoyance or hostility,” Chief Justice Roberts said. “We get that a lot.”

In the end, law student Meredith Price B.A. ’07 was declared the winner. After she graduates in May, Price will clerk for U.S. District Judge Michael Simon in Portland.